Video conferencing, also known as video teleconferencing, is a form of visual collaboration that has existed in some form or another since the introduction of the television. Primitive forms of video conferencing were demonstrated with closed circuit television systems using cable. NASA also implemented a primitive form of video conferencing during the first manned space flights, using multiple radio links.
Such techniques, however, proved to be too expensive and otherwise impractical for more mundane applications, such as business meetings. Video conferencing did not become a viable communication option for these applications until improvements in bandwidth and compression techniques in the 1980s and 1990s enabled practical transmission over digital networks. Finally, IP-based communication systems emerged as a common conferencing medium in the late 1990s.
Today, video conferencing applications are spreading throughout the business and healthcare industries, as well as the general public. The underlying technology continues to evolve, however, and new processes and systems need to be developed to improve the quality, reliability, and simplicity of this cutting edge communications medium.